Kohan Japanese Restaurant, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.

We were super excited to take our lunch at Kohan Japanese Restaurant, Lake Tekapo, after seeing the kind of environment the alpine salmon are reared at Mount Cook Alpine Salmon Farm. Kohan, or 湖畔, literally means “by the lake” and indeed the the restaurant has ceiling-to-floor windows for superb view of Lake Tekapo.

Gary and I both took the Kohan Bento Box (NZD23.50).
The bento box has quite a few items inside – the tempura prawn, crumbed chicken, salmon, omelette and sashimi. The sashimi is THE STAR in the bento box. What else would be better than the local salmon, reared in pristine glacial waters? The salmon is fresh, juicy, smooth and has an obvious natural sweetness. Note that New Zealand rears only Chinooks (or King Salmon), as opposed to Atlantic salmon reared by the rest of the world. The salmon was so good we ordered another plate (NZD 15). The other items in the bento box are standard, not too bad.
Overall, excellent location by the lake, sashimi is to die for, service is prompt and price is reasonable, with the menu ranging from NZD 3 – 33. Bento boxes ranges from NZD 24-23, and sashimi ranges from 15-20.